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"Adventurous Cyclist", the fun of cycling in Japan, my adventures

One of the members here said this product is good and very happy with it, so I ordered it.
Amazon product ASIN B07QN9FK1B
Secator自転車スマホ ホルダー 自転車携帯電話ホルダー スマホホルダー 角度調整 360度回転 脱着簡単 3.5~6.5インチのiPhone、Androidスマートフォンや GPSナビ スマホ固定用 (ブラック)


I was surprise that the shipping and handling fees where high and the COD is not cheap either. Anyway, at the local shop that sells something like these, the starting price is like 3500 yen.

Overall I'm fine with the price. Now, lets see if the Android doesn't fall off . Yikes! :)
 
Man, what a busy day :)

Little by little I'm getting there what needs to be done. I want to thank those whose shared the websites on bicycle insurance. I settled for AU Sonpo bike insurance. I went for this policy: http://www.au-sonpo.co.jp/pc/bycle/byclebest.html Its costly, but just less fun money for me, but I'm sure I can use a few cold ones after a days ride.

OK, went shopping. Yes! I know, shopping again. Hmm, this guy AC must be loaded. Well, not really, in fact, I'm broke now. No BS.
So what the heck did I buy. Well, believe or not, I listened to you folks.
HELMET HELMET HELMET HELMET HELMET
Thanks guys for your sound advice. Now I look like a real Mormon Missionary, just need the Book Of Mormon now. :cool:
Picture coming.
Next, had to get the rear red flashing light. May have over paid for it, but it has the rubber elastic band. Any thieves, beware, I'm pack'n. ;)
So I went to Daiso and picked up a pair of garden gloves. Yep! No BS Biking gloves at its finest for only 108 yen. Can't beat that guys. Heck, I even used their hasami sissors to cut downsize the fingers. These gloves are "rad".
And thanks to the member on TCC who recommended the bike phone carrier. I went with it. Amazon special. By the way, the shipping charges are crazy, but I think I still got value and quality out of the deal.
Oh, can't forget the velcro straps. 3 for 108 yen. They really come in handy on the rear carrier.
And finally the import thing "tube repair kit".


Now the sad part of the day is the picture that these babies are going to get jealous. Stay tune.
Dang I need a cold one after this post. :tup


23  gloves.JPG

Daiso special. Buy these folks, they are dynamite

24  rear flashing light.JPG
It works, what more can I say, well, for one thing it would have been nice if the shop owner gave me a bigger discount, but...25.5 Helmet.JPG


Today's trophy26  phone carrier.JPG
Yep! got it


27  tire repair set.JPG
Got to learn how to use this real soon. Hope the metal ones are OK, but I notice the shop sells the plastic type


28  velcro straps.JPG

These little suckers come in real handy I tell ya. Do I see a 6 pack being strapped


Sorry guys, but these little babies are not going to take it too well. Well, the wife did say she'll take them to the pawnshop. She's going to know what " 老齢離婚 " is.

14 my guitars.JPG

Thanks guys. I'm enjoying all what you folks experience.
 
Nice guitar collection. I bought a strat 2 years ago and still can't play the damn thing although I have a lesson every week. Hard to get everything working together. It seems I am not very musically talented or my fingers and hands just don't like to follow orders. However, I am stubborn, so hence still trying. Probably should have started this journey when I was younger. At least I can pedal a bike I guess.
 
Nice guitar collection. I bought a strat 2 years ago and still can't play the damn thing although I have a lesson every week. Hard to get everything working together. It seems I am not very musically talented or my fingers and hands just don't like to follow orders. However, I am stubborn, so hence still trying. Probably should have started this journey when I was younger. At least I can pedal a bike I guess.

Hey Wexford, don't give up. Start with a Ventures tune or any instrumental tune. That will keep you motivated and enjoying the guitar. What model strat did you buy?
 
Guitars--the nylon/classical in front: solid top, or no?
 
Hey Wexford, don't give up. Start with a Ventures tune or any instrumental tune. That will keep you motivated and enjoying the guitar. What model strat did you buy?

Sorry. Don't want to sideline your thread... but I got a Japanese Fender. Lovely blue. Not sure of the name. Very nice guitar. I'm currently trying to learn 3 songs... Let it be, Iron Man and Paranoid :) I need to find an app that can slow down the real songs so that I can play along. Been messing with garage band and created my own bit of noise recently which was quite fun. Not practicing enough is the main issue I think. Still, am doing a bit more practice these days and its paying some dividends. I don't know if the guitar teacher is the issue or not... like kind of learning a new language. Am I just learning grammar and boxed sentences or am I learning to communicate? Still I like having 1 lesson a week as it forces me to keep things going and gives me some bit of structure. Fingers are currently sore after being forced to do double bends. Someday I'll HTFU.
 
Guitars--the nylon/classical in front: solid top, or no?

This is it: http://www.ariaguitars.com/jp/items/classical-guitars/basic-electric-cutaway/a-35ce/
My eyes though tell me it is a 2 piece top. Nice guitar, but way over priced. I bought it for the cut-away and pickup.
Here are my 2 other guitars:
This is a Zen-on guitar. Has the zero nut on it. One of a kind. A 1960 collectors. All wood. The tone can match any ears that like classical musical music. There's a story behind this guitar. PM if interested.
The other is a Morris W-18 A 1980 model. The tone is something a flat picker would seek from this type of guitar. If interested PM me.

29 Zen-on Classical.JPG30 Zen-on Classical w name tag.JPG
31 Zen -on Zero nut.JPG

32 Morris.JPG
 
Sorry. Don't want to sideline your thread... but I got a Japanese Fender. Lovely blue. Not sure of the name. Very nice guitar. I'm currently trying to learn 3 songs... Let it be, Iron Man and Paranoid :) I need to find an app that can slow down the real songs so that I can play along. Been messing with garage band and created my own bit of noise recently which was quite fun. Not practicing enough is the main issue I think. Still, am doing a bit more practice these days and its paying some dividends. I don't know if the guitar teacher is the issue or not... like kind of learning a new language. Am I just learning grammar and boxed sentences or am I learning to communicate? Still I like having 1 lesson a week as it forces me to keep things going and gives me some bit of structure. Fingers are currently sore after being forced to do double bends. Someday I'll HTFU.


Go to this website: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
It has a slow down speed
Download a youtube guitar instruction video and the player will play it for you, very simple. And its free.
 
June 9th
Thanks to one of our members here I was able to get the Giant Bike manual. So today I read up to page 7.
Got to put in the longest ride since June 6th. Wife still needs to call the car insurance to put bikers insurance on it.
Yesterday went to a wholesale joint and bought some "German cheese". Is it any good? Well, I made some pizza dough this morning , so let's see the pizza right! :)

I guess I worked up an appetite, not really, need to get rid of some old man age fat on me. ;)

This is what we had for tonight's dinner.
View attachment 17952
No pizza for me tonight, but I did make this post ride Spanish omelette for tea (and very pleased I am with myself too).
IMG_0101.JPG
 
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So today I added another camping/fishing supply. Soon it will be suzuki fishing season. Now I just need to catch the fish, wash it, fillet it, sashimi it and with some soy and wasabi, "fish heaven" shall I be. This also will be included in my bike kit while I'm out "gorilla camping".

33  camping knife.JPG
 
Well, from today I'll start with the bicycle and its parts. Really new to all this gear and bike stuff so I'm learning as I go. The posting of "basic" stuff here is to really see if what I'm doing is correct and get feedback.

OK, first things first. The air pump. The shop owner installed it on the bike for me at time of purchase and went over the details of it. Well, today I finally took it off the bike and played around with it. Glad I did. Its kind of tricky to put back together. The model is: Giyo Air Supply GM-71


I'm glad I bought it at the bike shop. Installation really paid for itself. The pump is slim and trim. Using it requires more pumps and I just notice that it has the pressure gauge reading on it. Shop owner suggested 80 pounds per square inch (not sure if ppsi is the right meaning)

34  air pump (r).JPG35  air pump (l).JPG36 air pump holder.JPG


OK, what's next: The front tire removal and put the bike in the carry-on train bag.
 
June 17, 2019
Took an early evening ride in the countryside. Visited a shrine. Here are some pictures. Got up to 2 hours on the bike.

This is the farmers watering hole. Lots of cyclist stop here for drinks. This area is popular river road scenery

37  bike in front of vending machine.JPG

These fields are the last to be planted. I guess the farmers know who and when to plant the fields. Might have to do with the irrigation system

38  rice fields being planted.JPG

It's really amazing on how they can cram so many houses on a small hillside. Many of these little villages dot the area. Some of houses still have a water well

39  hillside village.JPG

This is a map of the shrines and places of interest. Cyclist can be seen during the summer months here from out of town. A place where they rest, lots of shade


40  map of shrines.JPG

Its safe to say I don't lock the bike here while visiting the shrine


41  map with bike.JPG

Side angle of the shrine. The property of this shrine is quite large. Should have taken a few more pictures. I'm not sure what this shrine is all about, but about 500 feet before it is some kind of graveyard. Must be where the old priest are burried

42 shrine  side angle.JPG

Front view of the shrine. Seems to be well maintained


43  shrine front shot.JPG

Well that's it for my early evening outing
 
Some nice photos there. I sort of missed seeing a lot of the rice planting this year because of my elbow. How's the bike holding up?
 
Hi Stu
Thanks. I got to learn about how to use the camera, but for the time being I'll just use it the way it is set up.
The rice planting is almost done now. Just a few paddies left. Maybe the tractors are down? My Giant R3 bike is getting a work out. Slowly but surely. Today I realize that my feet extend to far and hits the tire when turning. Riding on the ball of the foot helps. It that correct? Although I got a lot invested in the bike, I feel that its paying off by the fact I'm very happy with its performance. As my name says "turtle speed cyclist", well, it's true. I haven't kicked in yet. Probably won't either. I think the eyes/brain function slows down a bit nowadays. :)
 
June 19, 2019
My plan today was to take the front wheel off and learn how to put it into the rinko-bukuro. Sadly, there were 2 cars in the driveway when I decided to do it. So, what did I do. Well, with 31c weather today and very little wind, I hopped on the "Giant R3" and zoomed away into uncharted territory . Hmm, sounds like an adventure to be discovered .
OK. Here's the pictures.
I still haven't really figured out how to comment on the pictures yet, so it maybe messed up a bit.

This is 2 minutes from the house. A fishing hole for me during the summer.

53  near the house.JPG

53  near the house.JPG


S
Sunset. The sun sets too early in Japan.

55  airport and tokiwa park.JPG55  airport and tokiwa park.JPG

Yes we have an airport and a park that people from all over the world visit

56 Ube vacant farmland.JPG
It really is sad these days, so many rice paddies are becoming vacant

77 Koto station ticket booth.JPG
Not sure how it is in Tokyo, but this is our hometown way of buying tickets

76 Koto station ticket booth.JPG

The station, no one attends it. I wonder if they have cameras though to see if people pay for the tickets

75 Koto station.JPG

Yep, this is it. A real countryside JR station. Even has the vending machine if you are in need of a thrust of something cold

74  poor snake.JPG

Wow! I don't think it will bite me now

73  Ube newer houses.JPG
In the countryside new house are springing up. I really don't know why they build 2 story though, these owners are not too young

71  sign  drive carefully.JPG

Good thing I bought a mirror for my bike. Lots of old farmers on this country road

53  near the house.JPG55  airport and tokiwa park.JPG56 Ube vacant farmland.JPG77 Koto station ticket booth.JPG76 Koto station ticket booth.JPG75 Koto station.JPG74  poor snake.JPG73  Ube newer houses.JPG71  sign  drive carefully.JPG

70 crossroads Mine exit.JPG
this is where I turn around. about 1.5 hour bike ride. not sure if I'd buy a coke out of them machines though
 
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